Italian – Unemployment at record high and youth unemployment at 43.3 percent

Italy’s unemployment rate unexpectedly rose above 13 percent in October, setting a record as businesses refrain from hiring amid the country’s longest recession since World War II.

The unemployment rate rose to 13.2 percent from a revised 12.9 percent the previous month, the Rome-based national statistics office Istat said in a preliminary report today. That’s the highest since the quarterly series began in 1977. The median estimate of seven economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for an unemployment rate of 12.6 percent in October.

The youth unemployment rate for those aged 15 to 24 rose to 43.3 percent last month from 42.7 percent in September, today’s report showed.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Italian Unemployment Rate Rises to Record, Above Forecasts – Bloomberg.